Recently there's been a renewed interest in "The Great American Song Book". Not sure what that is? It's pretty much the collection of popular songs written by the composers of the 1920s-1950s primarily.
The Great American Song Book comprises of songs composed by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and the like. During this age of music the cover reigned supreme as artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Burl Ives, and Sammy Davis JR all did their own versions of popular songs.
Some of those singers we still listen to, albiet only at Christmas time (Bing Crosby and Burl Ives).
So, Rod Stewart and the like are making modern covers of such often romantic yet nearly forgotten songs that show elegance and class.
My question is, what about the Rock N' Roll standards?
An even better question is, what *ARE* the Rock N' Roll standards?
In my opinion Rock N' Roll can be broken down into at least three minimum great composers. Bare in mind, this is for simplification purposes the big three that come initially to my mind!
The first of course is Chuck Berry. He gave us such songs as "Johnny B. Goode", "Little Queenie", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Memphis, Tennessee", "Thirty Days", "Rock And Roll Music", "Reelin' And Rockin'", and more.
Out of the 1950s he's the most prolific composer though both Little Richard and Buddy Holly represent some of the other greatest composers of rock mmusic from that same era.
Then there's Bob Dylan. I think today a lotta people tend to forget just how influential Dylan was for his time. I mean, the easiest way to have a Top 40 hit in the 1960s was to cover a Bob Dylan tune.
The Byrds covered Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man". Manfred Mann covered Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn". Jimi Hendrix covered Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". The Turtles covered Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe". In the 1970s Olivia Newton-John covered Dylan's "If Not For You". In the 1990s Guns N' Roses had a huge hit covering Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door".
Any arguments against Bob Dylan yet?
Now, I'm gonna mention that for right now I'm not including writing teams such as Lennon/McCartney, Goffen/King, Leiber/Stroller, and the like. So please stick with me here!
For the third I'm gonna say John Fogerty.
What? Really?
Here's why, ok?
John Fogerty was the song writing machine behind Creedence Clearwater Revival. He wrote seminal songs such as "Proud Mary", "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?", "Down On The Corner", "Green River", "Lodi", "Fortunate Son", and more.
In his solo career he's written hits ranging from "Rockin' All Over The World" to "Centerfield". And when you get into his more recent material he still has solid rock songs such as "Hot Rod Heart" and "She's Got Baggage".
Now, the thing is, there's been more covers of John Fogerty's songs than there have been of Tom Petty's.
I mean, Tom Petty is a great song writer, but the only cover I can think of is Def Leppard's cover of "American Girl". Oh, and Johnny Cash's cover of "I Won't Back Down". And I think I heard a recent cover of "Free Fallin'", but the covers are really far and between on Petty's works.
Whereas Fogerty's songs have been real hits for others, like Ike & Tina Turner's cover of "Proud Mary", or Status Quo's cover of "Rockin' All Over The World". Even Jerry Reed and Elton John have covered Fogerty's songs he wrote for Creedence.
Although these song writers have been influential, and prolific, even iconic, are any of their songs truly Rock N' Roll standards?
It's easy to say that "Johnny B. Goode" is a Rock N' Roll standard, because it's been covered so many times as well as have "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Memphis, Tennessee" been covered numerous times as well.
"Proud Mary" is definitely a standard by now, but many other covers of Fogerty's works haven't had quite the same commercial success as that one song.
For Bob Dylan, well, the only songs of his I've heard covered numerous times that still hold up are "All Along The Watchtower" and "It Ain't Me Babe" (covered by The Turtles, a duet between Johnny Cash and June Carter, and most recently online by Never Shout Never whom is a young new acoustic musician heavily inspired by Bob Dylan).
Those songs truly withstand the "Garage Test".
But...what is the "Garage Test"?
That'll be covered in Part 2!
Sincerely,
Bob
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Mystery Of "The Train Kept A Rollin'"
For my generation, growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s the only way we were exposed to the song "The Train Kept A Rollin'" was through the discovery of 1970s era Aerosmith.
My older brother was the one who got me hooked on Aerosmith, and I remember at the time "Janie's Got A Gun" was their big hit. It wouldn't take long for me to be schooled in the classics of "Walk This Way", "Mama Kin", "Sweet Emotion", and "Train Kept A Rollin'".
I prefer their version of "Live Bootleg", back when Aerosmith's live albums were an event, unlike how I was disappointed with the "A Little South Of Sanity" two disc set.
For a long time I was pretty ignorant that anybody had done the song before Aerosmith.
Here's the Aerosmith classic courtesy of Youtube:
Aerosmith's Studio Version
Then one fateful day that all changed. I had walked up to, what was at the time, an Ames store (it's a Wal-Mart now and was a Hills before Ames). It was this store that introduced me to an excellent series of 10 track original artist hits CDs by Rhino's Flashback Records. The CDs were cheap and they featured bands from the 1950s -1970s that were hard to find normally.
In fact, thanks to Flashback Records I got my fill of Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, The Lovin' Spoonful, and others. It just sucked that they went cheaply on Deep Purple and Foghat by not including the full length album versions of hits like "Smoke On The Water" and "Slow Ride".
Yet that fateful day I bought the Flashback Records compilation of hits by the Yardbirds.
The Yardbirds are famous for having had three of the best guitarists to ever come out of Britain - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. In fact, it's latter incarnation with Jimmy Page eventually evolved into Led Zeppelin.
Now the CD had the normal Yardbirds hits anybody would expect like "For Your Love", "Heart Full Of Soul", and "Shapes Of Things To Come". What struck me were the addition of two songs I only knew off of the Aersomith album "Live Bootleg" which were "I Ain't Got You" (originally by Jimmy Reed) and "Train Kept A Rollin'".
Now this was back in the early 2000s if not the late 1990s and I was quite inexperienced and believed that the Yardbirds had done the original versions of those two songs.
Here's The Yardbirds version thanks to Youtube:
British Blues, baby!
Obviously, I was wrong!
I eventually discovered other versions of the song from other musicians. From Screamin' Lord Sutch to Shakin' Stevens, from Sugarloaf to Led Zeppelin, and then I eventually found the next piece of the puzzle.
In 1956 the Johnny Burnette Trio made the first Rock N' Roll, though more Rockabilly, version of "Train Kept A Rollin'". It was this primordial guitar laden version which spawned all other rock versions of the song. The guitar riffs are unmistakeable.
Here's Johnny Burnette's version thanks to Youtube:
A Rockabilly Classic!
Yet it still wasn't the original version of the song.
Finally though I found out that the man who composed the song originally was one Tiny Bradshaw. Usually the writing credit goes to a Howard Kay, whom at the time I couldn't find anything about.
Though upon searching for Tiny Bradshaw I found out that he had indeed recorded the original version of "Train Kept A Rollin'".
Finding a copy of his version though wasn't going to be easy.
I eventually found a Tiny Bradshaw CD for sale online at Best Buy. Amazon.com searches didn't reveal any Tiny Bradshaw CDs back then.
I bought an entire CD just to get that one elusive song.
And here it is from 1951, thanks to Youtube, described as "Jump Blues" but sounds sorta swingy to me:
The Original "Train Kept A Rollin'"
Weird, ain't it?
You've just witnessed the evolution of a song.
Sincerely,
Bob
My older brother was the one who got me hooked on Aerosmith, and I remember at the time "Janie's Got A Gun" was their big hit. It wouldn't take long for me to be schooled in the classics of "Walk This Way", "Mama Kin", "Sweet Emotion", and "Train Kept A Rollin'".
I prefer their version of "Live Bootleg", back when Aerosmith's live albums were an event, unlike how I was disappointed with the "A Little South Of Sanity" two disc set.
For a long time I was pretty ignorant that anybody had done the song before Aerosmith.
Here's the Aerosmith classic courtesy of Youtube:
Aerosmith's Studio Version
Then one fateful day that all changed. I had walked up to, what was at the time, an Ames store (it's a Wal-Mart now and was a Hills before Ames). It was this store that introduced me to an excellent series of 10 track original artist hits CDs by Rhino's Flashback Records. The CDs were cheap and they featured bands from the 1950s -1970s that were hard to find normally.
In fact, thanks to Flashback Records I got my fill of Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, The Lovin' Spoonful, and others. It just sucked that they went cheaply on Deep Purple and Foghat by not including the full length album versions of hits like "Smoke On The Water" and "Slow Ride".
Yet that fateful day I bought the Flashback Records compilation of hits by the Yardbirds.
The Yardbirds are famous for having had three of the best guitarists to ever come out of Britain - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. In fact, it's latter incarnation with Jimmy Page eventually evolved into Led Zeppelin.
Now the CD had the normal Yardbirds hits anybody would expect like "For Your Love", "Heart Full Of Soul", and "Shapes Of Things To Come". What struck me were the addition of two songs I only knew off of the Aersomith album "Live Bootleg" which were "I Ain't Got You" (originally by Jimmy Reed) and "Train Kept A Rollin'".
Now this was back in the early 2000s if not the late 1990s and I was quite inexperienced and believed that the Yardbirds had done the original versions of those two songs.
Here's The Yardbirds version thanks to Youtube:
British Blues, baby!
Obviously, I was wrong!
I eventually discovered other versions of the song from other musicians. From Screamin' Lord Sutch to Shakin' Stevens, from Sugarloaf to Led Zeppelin, and then I eventually found the next piece of the puzzle.
In 1956 the Johnny Burnette Trio made the first Rock N' Roll, though more Rockabilly, version of "Train Kept A Rollin'". It was this primordial guitar laden version which spawned all other rock versions of the song. The guitar riffs are unmistakeable.
Here's Johnny Burnette's version thanks to Youtube:
A Rockabilly Classic!
Yet it still wasn't the original version of the song.
Finally though I found out that the man who composed the song originally was one Tiny Bradshaw. Usually the writing credit goes to a Howard Kay, whom at the time I couldn't find anything about.
Though upon searching for Tiny Bradshaw I found out that he had indeed recorded the original version of "Train Kept A Rollin'".
Finding a copy of his version though wasn't going to be easy.
I eventually found a Tiny Bradshaw CD for sale online at Best Buy. Amazon.com searches didn't reveal any Tiny Bradshaw CDs back then.
I bought an entire CD just to get that one elusive song.
And here it is from 1951, thanks to Youtube, described as "Jump Blues" but sounds sorta swingy to me:
The Original "Train Kept A Rollin'"
Weird, ain't it?
You've just witnessed the evolution of a song.
Sincerely,
Bob
Shock Rock Around The Clock!
When you say "Shock Rock" most people tend to think Alice Cooper or Marilyn Manson.
So, here's my shock rock history lesson.
1956 was a year when Rock N' Roll was still quite young. Many would consider Rock N' Roll to be an infant in its terrible two's during this year.
It was the year that average blues musician Jay Hawkins recorded "I Put A Spell On You" and became Screamin' Jay Hawkins!
After that his recording career would be laden with coffins, a skull named Henry, scares, shocks, thrills and chills, and horror oriented music that brought out the hoodoo and voodoo of Rock N' Roll.
Here's a link to Youtube showing Screamin' Jay performing his hit:
"I Put A Spell On You"
You see, Screamin' Jay eventually took the horror convention to comedic proportions as the old school horror schtick became more comedic over time. An example is how in the 1950s a film like "House On Haunted Hill" starring Vincent Price would've been scary, but by today's current standards it'd be silly. The shock level started to expand and evolve during the 1960s and by the 1970s most of what had been scary in the 1930s-1950s was no longer sufficient to scare modern audiences yet was sufficient in a comedic aspect. That process of downgrading traditional horror was actually jump started by Universal's 1948 classic film "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein".
"I Put A Spell On You" has been covered numerous times, my favorite being the Creedence Clearwater Revival version.
Now many Americans don't tend to realize that there was a British Shock Rocker inspired by Screamin' Jay in the 1960s, mostly because Screamin' Lord Sutch never invaded the USA.
Screamin' Lord Sutch and the Savages had a slew of songs dealing with the macabre, a lot having been produced by famous British music producer Joe Meek.
One of my favorites is "She's Fallen In Love With A Monster Man", but "Dracula's Daughter" is alright as well, but his most famous tune from this early era was "Jack The Ripper".
Here's a Youtube video of Screamin' Lord Sutch performing "Jack The Ripper":
Here's "Jack The Ripper"
He also did a British version of Sheb Wooley's "The Purple People Eater" as well.
In the early 1970s he did an album called "Screaming Lord Sutch And Heavy Friends" which featured Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer John Bonham, Noel Redding the bassist from the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and guitarist Jeff Beck to boot. The album was after Joe Meek's death and thus was less horror inspired as well.
Screaming Lord Sutch later on became a politician in the UK with the Raving Looney Party. Unfortunately Screaming Lord Sutch committed suicide in 1999.
The role of monster rocker had already been fulfilled in the USA during the early 1960s era of Screaming Lord Sutch, and that was because of the smash hit "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" pickett & The Crypt Kickers.
I always liked "Blood Bank Blues" by the Crypt Kickers myself.
And thus concludes the era leading up to Alice Cooper, the beginnings of Shock Rock History.
Sincerely,
Bob
So, here's my shock rock history lesson.
1956 was a year when Rock N' Roll was still quite young. Many would consider Rock N' Roll to be an infant in its terrible two's during this year.
It was the year that average blues musician Jay Hawkins recorded "I Put A Spell On You" and became Screamin' Jay Hawkins!
After that his recording career would be laden with coffins, a skull named Henry, scares, shocks, thrills and chills, and horror oriented music that brought out the hoodoo and voodoo of Rock N' Roll.
Here's a link to Youtube showing Screamin' Jay performing his hit:
"I Put A Spell On You"
You see, Screamin' Jay eventually took the horror convention to comedic proportions as the old school horror schtick became more comedic over time. An example is how in the 1950s a film like "House On Haunted Hill" starring Vincent Price would've been scary, but by today's current standards it'd be silly. The shock level started to expand and evolve during the 1960s and by the 1970s most of what had been scary in the 1930s-1950s was no longer sufficient to scare modern audiences yet was sufficient in a comedic aspect. That process of downgrading traditional horror was actually jump started by Universal's 1948 classic film "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein".
"I Put A Spell On You" has been covered numerous times, my favorite being the Creedence Clearwater Revival version.
Now many Americans don't tend to realize that there was a British Shock Rocker inspired by Screamin' Jay in the 1960s, mostly because Screamin' Lord Sutch never invaded the USA.
Screamin' Lord Sutch and the Savages had a slew of songs dealing with the macabre, a lot having been produced by famous British music producer Joe Meek.
One of my favorites is "She's Fallen In Love With A Monster Man", but "Dracula's Daughter" is alright as well, but his most famous tune from this early era was "Jack The Ripper".
Here's a Youtube video of Screamin' Lord Sutch performing "Jack The Ripper":
Here's "Jack The Ripper"
He also did a British version of Sheb Wooley's "The Purple People Eater" as well.
In the early 1970s he did an album called "Screaming Lord Sutch And Heavy Friends" which featured Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer John Bonham, Noel Redding the bassist from the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and guitarist Jeff Beck to boot. The album was after Joe Meek's death and thus was less horror inspired as well.
Screaming Lord Sutch later on became a politician in the UK with the Raving Looney Party. Unfortunately Screaming Lord Sutch committed suicide in 1999.
The role of monster rocker had already been fulfilled in the USA during the early 1960s era of Screaming Lord Sutch, and that was because of the smash hit "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" pickett & The Crypt Kickers.
I always liked "Blood Bank Blues" by the Crypt Kickers myself.
And thus concludes the era leading up to Alice Cooper, the beginnings of Shock Rock History.
Sincerely,
Bob
C.C. or See See Rider, the lowdown on this classic!
My late dad used to swear up and down that Chuck Willis did the original version of "C.C. Rider". Well, at least it was his favorite version, and the version that he grew up with.
The truth is though that "See, See Rider Blues" was originally recorded by lady of the blues Ma Rainey circa 1924-1925.
Yes, the song is seriously that old.
Chuck Willis recorded his version in 1954 I believe, and then in the mid-1960s the song went from a slow tune to a raucous rocker.
Now, the Animals were the British rockers on the tune in 1966, but one year earlier it was Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels who did the first fast version I know of, their amalgam rendition called "Jenny Take A Ride".
For the unlearned, amalgam means combination, or mash-up.
Now so y'all understand me out there I'd better explain the Mitch Ryder method.
Most of you should know Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels for their massive hit "Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly".
Now that song, or amalgam, is a double cover medley. Normally a medley is a mash-up of three or more songs. "Devil With A Blue Dress On" was originally recorded by Motown Blues artist Shorty Long, and is a very slow song (just like most versions of "C.C. Rider" or "See See Rider Blues" up to that point and time). Then the other song covered was the Little Richard classic "Good Golly Miss Molly".
So what the Detroit Wheels did was take one slow blues tune, a raucous rockin' Little Richard tune, and combine them into one hot rockin' get outta yer seat and start dancin' guitar laden, soul shoutin' rock n' roll song.
Best of both worlds 'tis was!
So, now we get to "Jenny Take A Ride". The Detroit Wheels took the usually slow "C.C. Rider" and combined it with a cover of Little Richard's hit "Jenny, Jenny" and lo and behold you get a very fast rockin' rendition of those two songs combined.
While we're on the Detroit Wheels they also did, in my opinion, the best cover of the Righteous Brother's tune "Little Latin Lupe Lu".
Now, my favorite fast rockin' version of "C.C. Rider" is the live version that Elvis Presley did live in the 1970s. Elvis did his best covers in the 1970s in my opinion.
So, what's the point of this post?
Mainly that rock songs do indeed evolve, and that many have a primordial state that started much earlier than most people out there would assume.
"C.C. Rider" had its peak lifespan in pop culture from the 1920s to the 1970s. That's a 50 year span of life.
To my knowledge it hasn't been covered recently unfortunately.
In the 21st century many song evolutions are ending, or becoming stagnant. Good cover bands still exist but they are far harder to find.
Many "Oldies" stations are focusing more on the 1960s through the 1980s now totally leaving the 1950s behind. Even the early 1960s are becoming a rare gem era on modern radio.
That's it I guess for this posting.
Sincerely,
Bob
The truth is though that "See, See Rider Blues" was originally recorded by lady of the blues Ma Rainey circa 1924-1925.
Yes, the song is seriously that old.
Chuck Willis recorded his version in 1954 I believe, and then in the mid-1960s the song went from a slow tune to a raucous rocker.
Now, the Animals were the British rockers on the tune in 1966, but one year earlier it was Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels who did the first fast version I know of, their amalgam rendition called "Jenny Take A Ride".
For the unlearned, amalgam means combination, or mash-up.
Now so y'all understand me out there I'd better explain the Mitch Ryder method.
Most of you should know Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels for their massive hit "Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly".
Now that song, or amalgam, is a double cover medley. Normally a medley is a mash-up of three or more songs. "Devil With A Blue Dress On" was originally recorded by Motown Blues artist Shorty Long, and is a very slow song (just like most versions of "C.C. Rider" or "See See Rider Blues" up to that point and time). Then the other song covered was the Little Richard classic "Good Golly Miss Molly".
So what the Detroit Wheels did was take one slow blues tune, a raucous rockin' Little Richard tune, and combine them into one hot rockin' get outta yer seat and start dancin' guitar laden, soul shoutin' rock n' roll song.
Best of both worlds 'tis was!
So, now we get to "Jenny Take A Ride". The Detroit Wheels took the usually slow "C.C. Rider" and combined it with a cover of Little Richard's hit "Jenny, Jenny" and lo and behold you get a very fast rockin' rendition of those two songs combined.
While we're on the Detroit Wheels they also did, in my opinion, the best cover of the Righteous Brother's tune "Little Latin Lupe Lu".
Now, my favorite fast rockin' version of "C.C. Rider" is the live version that Elvis Presley did live in the 1970s. Elvis did his best covers in the 1970s in my opinion.
So, what's the point of this post?
Mainly that rock songs do indeed evolve, and that many have a primordial state that started much earlier than most people out there would assume.
"C.C. Rider" had its peak lifespan in pop culture from the 1920s to the 1970s. That's a 50 year span of life.
To my knowledge it hasn't been covered recently unfortunately.
In the 21st century many song evolutions are ending, or becoming stagnant. Good cover bands still exist but they are far harder to find.
Many "Oldies" stations are focusing more on the 1960s through the 1980s now totally leaving the 1950s behind. Even the early 1960s are becoming a rare gem era on modern radio.
That's it I guess for this posting.
Sincerely,
Bob
Why Chuck Berry Is The King Of Rock N' Roll
Alrighty, here's a post that should stir up some debate.
The majority of people out there accepts that Elvis Presley is the "King" of Rock N' Roll.
We're all taught this and told this no matter what. It's a givenn, right?
WRONG!
Ya know, Elvis himself due to his religious beliefs even disliked the title because to him the only "King" was Jesus Christ.
By the way, I respect all religions, just sayin' what Elvis' motivations and reasonings were.
Although Elvis was a great performer, from his great voice, dancing swagger, and iconic imagery I just can't abide by him being the "King Of Rock N' Roll".
Why? I'm getting to that.
I believe that the King of Rock N' Roll should be a singer/song writer type of rock musician. Elvis was not a singer/song writer. The majority of Elvis' most recognizable hits were actually covers.
"Blue Swuede Shoes" was originally by Carl Perkins (duh!). "His Latest Flame" was originally by Del Shannon. "Suspicious Minds" was by Mark James. Both "That's Alright Mama" and "My Baby Left Me" were originally by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. Both "Poke Salad Annie" and "I've Got A Thing About You Baby" were by Tony Joe White.
I could keep going on, but I think you all get my point. I'd reccomend the album "Elvis & The Originals" an MP3 album on Amazon.com's MP3 services. You get 53 songs for $8.99 (when I bought it) that gives you Elvis' version and the originals. Why the extra song? Because it gives you the complete evolution of the song "Hound Dog".
"Hound Dog" was originally a Leiber/Stroller blues tune recorded by Big Mama Thornton. The missing link between hers and Elvis' hit version though is the re-arrangement by Freddie Bell and The Bell Boys.
Here's a link to that album on Amazon:
You can find that here!
My only quips with that album is that some selections are obvious, and that they used the wrong version of "Blue Moon". The original vocal recording of "Blue Moon" was done by Connee Boswell, and is available on Amazon MP3 as well. I have no clue when Glenn Gray did his version of "Blue Moon" but feel free to double check my facts elsewhere online.
Now, as stated, Elvis was a great performer. His renditions of songs elevated many obscure tunes into the spotlight. That's all well and good, but Chuck Berry has an even greater legacy.
Chuck Berry is usually called a "Guitar God", and quite frankly he was the first in a long line resulting in the Guitar God Pantheon. His musical conventions have influenced subgenres ranging from surf rock to punk rock.
Chuck Berry also wrote nearly all of his own songs. His one number one hit from 1972, "My Ding-A-Ling" a live track off the album "The London Sessions" was a cover.
Yet Berry wrote and first recorded songs that are still being covered to this day, songs that have transcended genres, and other accolades no other Rocker has achieved.
Songs such as "Memphis, Tennessee", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Johnny B. Goode", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", and a few others are nearly immortal in Rock N' Roll and its sub-genres.
"Johnny B. Goode" has been done in country (Buck Owens), reggae (Peter Tosh), heavy metal (Judas Priest), and more. The original version by Chuck Berry however was pout on the Voyager Golden Record (on the Voyager Spacecraft by NASA) as a representation of Rock N' Roll, and only one out of four songs on the record to represent the USA!
Does Elvis have a song in outer space? NO!
Unless you count reverberating radio signals, but no records out there in the final frontier!
You see, Chuck's works were highly regarded and covered by his own contemporaries. My favorite cover of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is Buddy Holly's version. Even Elvis had a 1970s hit covering Berry's "Promised Land". Lonnie Mack had a hit instrumental cover of "Memphis, Tennessee" which then lead to the famous cover of the song by Johnny Rivers, and most recently a cover by ex-Guns N' Roses member Izzy Stradlin on his solo album "117 Degrees".
Chuck was also a major influence on the bands of the British Invasion, of which the Beatles covered "Roll Over Beethoven" and the Rolling Stones covered Berry's "Come On".
In 1972 on the Mike Douglas show Chuck even did a duet with John Lennon doing "Johnny B. Goode", which was historically reprised after Lennon's death when Chuck and Julian Lennon did "Johnny B. Goode" together in the concert/biographical film "Hail, Hail Rock N' Roll".
Chuck's song "Little Queenie" was a prototypical song that spawned the theme of the "Jukebox Tease" later evident in songs ranging from "I Saw Her Standing There" by the Beatles to "I Love Rock N' Roll" by the Arrows (The Arrows originally did that song in 1977. Joan Jett first covered it with the Sex Pistols as her backing band having limited UK success with that version before recording the mega-hit version with The Black Hearts. Unfortunately Britney Spears also covered the song.). "Little Queenie" is also referenced at the end in British Glam Rock era tunes "Now I'm Here" by Queen and "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" by Marc Bolan and T. Rex.
The influence of Chuck Berry spreads far and wide within the plane of existence we call Rock N' Roll.
Even in the 21st Century his songs still thrive, survive, and are still covered.
I'd also suggest people check out the cover of "Roll Over Beethoven" by Status Quo, for thus far it's the best cover of that song I've ever heard. Definitely much better than the cover by Mountain, though they do a mean cover of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On".
And thus, this is why I believe that Chuck Berry is indeed the King of Rock N' Roll.
Sincerely,
Bob
The majority of people out there accepts that Elvis Presley is the "King" of Rock N' Roll.
We're all taught this and told this no matter what. It's a givenn, right?
WRONG!
Ya know, Elvis himself due to his religious beliefs even disliked the title because to him the only "King" was Jesus Christ.
By the way, I respect all religions, just sayin' what Elvis' motivations and reasonings were.
Although Elvis was a great performer, from his great voice, dancing swagger, and iconic imagery I just can't abide by him being the "King Of Rock N' Roll".
Why? I'm getting to that.
I believe that the King of Rock N' Roll should be a singer/song writer type of rock musician. Elvis was not a singer/song writer. The majority of Elvis' most recognizable hits were actually covers.
"Blue Swuede Shoes" was originally by Carl Perkins (duh!). "His Latest Flame" was originally by Del Shannon. "Suspicious Minds" was by Mark James. Both "That's Alright Mama" and "My Baby Left Me" were originally by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. Both "Poke Salad Annie" and "I've Got A Thing About You Baby" were by Tony Joe White.
I could keep going on, but I think you all get my point. I'd reccomend the album "Elvis & The Originals" an MP3 album on Amazon.com's MP3 services. You get 53 songs for $8.99 (when I bought it) that gives you Elvis' version and the originals. Why the extra song? Because it gives you the complete evolution of the song "Hound Dog".
"Hound Dog" was originally a Leiber/Stroller blues tune recorded by Big Mama Thornton. The missing link between hers and Elvis' hit version though is the re-arrangement by Freddie Bell and The Bell Boys.
Here's a link to that album on Amazon:
You can find that here!
My only quips with that album is that some selections are obvious, and that they used the wrong version of "Blue Moon". The original vocal recording of "Blue Moon" was done by Connee Boswell, and is available on Amazon MP3 as well. I have no clue when Glenn Gray did his version of "Blue Moon" but feel free to double check my facts elsewhere online.
Now, as stated, Elvis was a great performer. His renditions of songs elevated many obscure tunes into the spotlight. That's all well and good, but Chuck Berry has an even greater legacy.
Chuck Berry is usually called a "Guitar God", and quite frankly he was the first in a long line resulting in the Guitar God Pantheon. His musical conventions have influenced subgenres ranging from surf rock to punk rock.
Chuck Berry also wrote nearly all of his own songs. His one number one hit from 1972, "My Ding-A-Ling" a live track off the album "The London Sessions" was a cover.
Yet Berry wrote and first recorded songs that are still being covered to this day, songs that have transcended genres, and other accolades no other Rocker has achieved.
Songs such as "Memphis, Tennessee", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Johnny B. Goode", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", and a few others are nearly immortal in Rock N' Roll and its sub-genres.
"Johnny B. Goode" has been done in country (Buck Owens), reggae (Peter Tosh), heavy metal (Judas Priest), and more. The original version by Chuck Berry however was pout on the Voyager Golden Record (on the Voyager Spacecraft by NASA) as a representation of Rock N' Roll, and only one out of four songs on the record to represent the USA!
Does Elvis have a song in outer space? NO!
Unless you count reverberating radio signals, but no records out there in the final frontier!
You see, Chuck's works were highly regarded and covered by his own contemporaries. My favorite cover of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is Buddy Holly's version. Even Elvis had a 1970s hit covering Berry's "Promised Land". Lonnie Mack had a hit instrumental cover of "Memphis, Tennessee" which then lead to the famous cover of the song by Johnny Rivers, and most recently a cover by ex-Guns N' Roses member Izzy Stradlin on his solo album "117 Degrees".
Chuck was also a major influence on the bands of the British Invasion, of which the Beatles covered "Roll Over Beethoven" and the Rolling Stones covered Berry's "Come On".
In 1972 on the Mike Douglas show Chuck even did a duet with John Lennon doing "Johnny B. Goode", which was historically reprised after Lennon's death when Chuck and Julian Lennon did "Johnny B. Goode" together in the concert/biographical film "Hail, Hail Rock N' Roll".
Chuck's song "Little Queenie" was a prototypical song that spawned the theme of the "Jukebox Tease" later evident in songs ranging from "I Saw Her Standing There" by the Beatles to "I Love Rock N' Roll" by the Arrows (The Arrows originally did that song in 1977. Joan Jett first covered it with the Sex Pistols as her backing band having limited UK success with that version before recording the mega-hit version with The Black Hearts. Unfortunately Britney Spears also covered the song.). "Little Queenie" is also referenced at the end in British Glam Rock era tunes "Now I'm Here" by Queen and "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" by Marc Bolan and T. Rex.
The influence of Chuck Berry spreads far and wide within the plane of existence we call Rock N' Roll.
Even in the 21st Century his songs still thrive, survive, and are still covered.
I'd also suggest people check out the cover of "Roll Over Beethoven" by Status Quo, for thus far it's the best cover of that song I've ever heard. Definitely much better than the cover by Mountain, though they do a mean cover of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On".
And thus, this is why I believe that Chuck Berry is indeed the King of Rock N' Roll.
Sincerely,
Bob
In The Beginning...
My name is Bob. This is Bob's Rock Blog. Why's it called that? Because every cool name I could think of was already taken.
So, why start another Rock N' Roll music blog?
Well, I'm tired of just spewing out my Rock knowledge on Facebook, and being the odd American into a lotta bands that most Americans have never heard of, well, here's my chance to expose them while also educating those who wanna know some good ol' Rock N' Roll history.
"History?", you ask?
That's right. I'm not gonna spill out over done info on bands, quote biographies or autobiographies, or be like a walking talking typing "Behind The Music" rockumentary.
So what kinda history am I spilling?
The evolutionary process of rock songs.
Yes, some songs actually do evolve over a century or more.
Need an early example?
Let's take Southern Rock classic "Black Betty" by Ram Jam.
It was first recorded in the 1930s by a black folk singer named Leadbelly.
Now Leadbelly has an interesting story I'll explain real quick. Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter was found by John Lomax on Lomax's search to document American Folk Songs in the 1930s. Now, Leadbelly was an ex-convict who started to gain fame for his singing while driving around John Lomax. Eventually John's son Alan Lomax helped Leadbelly's career keep going into the 1940s.
Now, Leadbelly may have been the first to record such songs as "House Of The Rising Sun" and "Black Betty".
Though "Black Betty" didn't become a hit, and a classic until the raucous cover by Ram Jam in the 1970s. Recently the song's been covered by Austrailian rockers Spiderbait and the infamous Tom Jones.
Yes, Tom Jones (of "It's Not Unusual" fame) has covered "Black Betty". Ozzy Osbourne has covered "Stayin' Alive" (the Bee Gees disco hit from "Saturday Night Fever"). Those two covers by those two respective artists is proof enough that the Apocalypse is near!
Don't believe me? Here's a Youtube video of Tom Jones' version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckH2fjLeY9A
Looks like you'll have to copy and paste that link. Unfortunately I couldn't get any HTML to work on this thing.
Oh, and if anybody has any complaints about usage rights, contact Youtube. It's content on there, I'm just embedding it.
I'll only post links or embeds of content, so I'm not directly going to upload any music on here or anything. I'm just starting out, so I'm not sure what kinda liscenses I'd need to do that anyways.
Alrighty, that's it for now.
Sincerely,
Bob
So, why start another Rock N' Roll music blog?
Well, I'm tired of just spewing out my Rock knowledge on Facebook, and being the odd American into a lotta bands that most Americans have never heard of, well, here's my chance to expose them while also educating those who wanna know some good ol' Rock N' Roll history.
"History?", you ask?
That's right. I'm not gonna spill out over done info on bands, quote biographies or autobiographies, or be like a walking talking typing "Behind The Music" rockumentary.
So what kinda history am I spilling?
The evolutionary process of rock songs.
Yes, some songs actually do evolve over a century or more.
Need an early example?
Let's take Southern Rock classic "Black Betty" by Ram Jam.
It was first recorded in the 1930s by a black folk singer named Leadbelly.
Now Leadbelly has an interesting story I'll explain real quick. Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter was found by John Lomax on Lomax's search to document American Folk Songs in the 1930s. Now, Leadbelly was an ex-convict who started to gain fame for his singing while driving around John Lomax. Eventually John's son Alan Lomax helped Leadbelly's career keep going into the 1940s.
Now, Leadbelly may have been the first to record such songs as "House Of The Rising Sun" and "Black Betty".
Though "Black Betty" didn't become a hit, and a classic until the raucous cover by Ram Jam in the 1970s. Recently the song's been covered by Austrailian rockers Spiderbait and the infamous Tom Jones.
Yes, Tom Jones (of "It's Not Unusual" fame) has covered "Black Betty". Ozzy Osbourne has covered "Stayin' Alive" (the Bee Gees disco hit from "Saturday Night Fever"). Those two covers by those two respective artists is proof enough that the Apocalypse is near!
Don't believe me? Here's a Youtube video of Tom Jones' version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckH2fjLeY9A
Looks like you'll have to copy and paste that link. Unfortunately I couldn't get any HTML to work on this thing.
Oh, and if anybody has any complaints about usage rights, contact Youtube. It's content on there, I'm just embedding it.
I'll only post links or embeds of content, so I'm not directly going to upload any music on here or anything. I'm just starting out, so I'm not sure what kinda liscenses I'd need to do that anyways.
Alrighty, that's it for now.
Sincerely,
Bob
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